Nutrition: Fueling Your Body the Way It Needs

There are so many differing views on nutrition and fad diets out there. We need to understand that even though metabolism and body mechanics differ there should be a baseline to judge or nutrition from. I am of the opinion that we should strive to be as natural as possible. If our goal is to have our bodies work at optimum levels we should make it as efficient as possible for our body to break down the food we ingest.

With all that said, any steps that you take to make your diet better are steps in the right direction. I am in no way promoting a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. I personally feel that animal protein is a needed staple of a diet, but to each his own. I do see the value in such lifestyles and take a month every year to cleanse my body and go vegan myself.

One of the first things you have to do is eat more meals to jump start your metabolism. 5 to 6 meals a day, spread out every 3 to 4 hours. What I like to do is split my breakfast and lunch into two sessions and then have a good dinner after evening training.

The formula that I follow is pretty simple and here it is:

Breakfast: heavy carbs and fruit

Lunch: moderate carbs and low protein (no fruit or fruit juices after 330)

Dinner: high protein, vegetables, and good fats (no carbs)

***If you are an athlete make sure you have protein at every meal and supplement as needed.***

The reason I use this formula is because this is how your body naturally burns those foods. In the morning your body needs the carbs to get it started and keep it running. When you eat fruit in the morning you are able to get the nutrients from the fruit and still give you time to burn off all the natural sugar you ingest.

At lunchtime you need some more carbs to keep your body fueled for the second half of the day. Also if you have an afternoon or evening training session you will need the carbs to help you make it through the workout.

At dinner you want to cut out all carbs because as you sleep your body does not process carbs, but works on repairing. This is why it is good to have good nutrients from your vegetables and lots of protein. Your body will break down the protein and use it to repair the body, but takes that time to turn sugar into fat and than store the fat. In saying that, you also need to make sure that you are also getting good fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts, etc.) this helps balance your diet and helps to break down the protein that you are eating.

Remember this is a basic diet and nutrition plan, you also have to take in consideration your own dietary issues and how your body works. The key is balancing your diet (carbs, sugars, proteins, and fat). There are so many diet plans out there that want to restrict certain elements from your diet. This may work in the short term, but for long term overall health they can often have disastrous results. Please use caution before beginning any diet regimen.

So go out there eat healthier and TRAIN HARD.....